Chapter 57: An Old Dream and the A-Rank Party Certification Exam
—A dream.
In the light sleep of early morning, I was dreaming.
Before my eyes, elementary schooler Otama-chan was walking towards me from down the school hallway.
“Ah, Ko-chan! Let’s walk home together!”
“What did the teacher say?”
—I remember.
This happened a while after Shi-chan moved to Tokyo.
After school, Otama-chan had been summoned to the staff room alone.
Otama-chan said it like it was nothing.
“They asked if I wanted to play mini-basketball. That I’d definitely get good at it.”
“…What did you say?”
“Eh? I said I wouldn’t. ‘Cause it’s more fun to go home and play. Hey, Ko-chan, what should we do today? Dodgeball? Shadow tag?”
“…”
As Otama-chan grew, her athletic abilities improved.
I could no longer keep up with her in a race, nor could I compete with her evenly in ball games.
Unlike me, who had no particular talents, Otama-chan’s abilities were sought after by everyone.
I had become unable to accept Otama-chan’s smile straightforwardly.
And I was already growing distant from Manamin.
“Let’s head home for now, okay? Meet at the Secret Base?”
To a cheerful-sounding Otama-chan, I…
“I… I quit.”
“Eh…?”
“I’m not playing with you anymore, Otama-chan! Just go play basketball!”
“Eh, eh? Ko-chan!?”
“Don’t follow me!!”
My vision blurring with tears, I ran out of the school entranceway.
“Hey, wait up!”
I heard footsteps from behind, and Otama-chan easily caught up to me.
“Ko-chan, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
Otama-chan peered at my face, looking genuinely worried.
But I…
—Caught up to in an instant.
—Being pitied by a girl.
—Unable to bear my miserable self.
I said something I shouldn’t have.
“I don’t want to talk to you anymore, Otama-chan! I hate you!”
“Eh…”
“Waaaaaah!”
Sobbing loudly, I ran towards the school gate.
When I said those unforgivable words, Otama-chan’s eyes were also welling up.
Otama-chan might have been crying too.
But… there was nothing I could do.
A mess of guilt and inferiority, I went back Home.
…In the end, after that, Otama-chan joined the school’s mini-basketball club and stopped coming to the Secret Base.
It was only near graduation that I learned Otama-chan hadn’t been getting along well with her teammates and had continued with the club activities awkwardly.
…
…
☆★☆
—April 25th, Saturday.
8:40 AM.
The four of us had come to the vicinity of the Oya History Museum in the Oya district of Utsunomiya City.
“Ko-chan, that vending machine is made of stone!”
“Tamama, that’s just the exterior.”
“Eh!? I thought it was real!”
The Utsunomiya Dungeon is a dungeon that appeared on the grounds of the Oya History Museum.
The Oya History Museum is a tourist spot utilizing the remains of an Oya stone quarry.
Stone staircases extending underground, stone subterranean spaces illuminated by wall lights, and an underground lake.
From its appearance, some had described it as “just like an underground temple” or “a dungeon.”
The Utsunomiya Dungeon was a dungeon with an interior exactly like that of the Oya History Museum.
“Huh, Ko-chan. Are you nervous? You’ve been quiet for a while…”
“No… I’m fine.”
…I can’t tell Otama-chan.
That since seeing that dream this morning, I’ve been on the verge of being crushed by resurfacing guilt.
“Natsume-kun, are you tired from driving? Sorry, it’s because we were being noisy…”
“Don’t you need the restroom? There’s one up the slope.”
“Neither. …I’m fine.”
“…If you say so.”
“I’m going to the restroom!”
“Natsume-kun, why don’t you go too? We have time.”
“…Yeah.”
I finished using the restroom and waited for everyone in the plaza in front of the Oya Dungeon.
Just then.
“—You’re the 【Spatial Transfer】 user?”
A man with a goatee, looking to be in his late thirties, spoke to me.
“And you are…?”
With a cross-shaped scar on his cheek and two swords hanging from his waist, I had a faint idea.
He’s an Explorer, just like me.
“I am Yagyu Houzan, leader of the A-Rank Party, the First Penguins. Perhaps it’s better if I say I’m the 【Dual Wielding】 【Sword Saint】?”
“Hah…”
Honestly, it doesn’t ring a bell.
Is it mannerly among Explorers to introduce oneself with their skills?
Well, that wasn’t covered in the Explorer training course, so it should be fine.
“I’m Natsume. Looking forward to today.”
I introduced myself as well.
Then.
“You lack ambition!!”
“…H-Huh?”
I was suddenly yelled at.
“Um…”
“Don’t you even have the spirit to show your strength to me, your opponent? If it weren’t for your advantage of 【Spatial Transfer】, I wouldn’t want to associate with someone like you for the rest of my life! What a pathetic man!”
“…Huh?”
What’s with this guy?
He’s like those monster claimer old men I often dealt with at my previous job.
Without making any sense, the man continued.
“You lack the drive to climb higher, even if it means kicking others down. This current situation is a case in point. You have a chance to join a top-class A-Rank party, yet you can’t make a swift decision and act. You lack judgment.”
He’s been saying nothing but incomprehensible things.
I have no obligation to have my intentions arbitrarily decided for me and then be complained at.
“It’s not like I want to join your party.”
At that, Yagyu-shi raised his eyebrows and said.
“They say opportunity has bangs only on the front. You’ve been blessed with the luck of the 【Spatial Transfer】 skill, yet you’re wasting it. Because you’re such a soft person, you’re probably still thinking of partying with those deadweight women!”
“…Who are you calling deadweight?”
Blood rushed to my head.
“Don’t you get it? All your party members who are lower level than you and have no noteworthy skills. Is it fun being with them? They’ll only drag you down. People without talent should be cut loose. If it were just you, you could even become an S-Rank party. I’ll beat some sense into you in my party.”
“Ah…”
At that moment, I remembered the dream from this morning.
“They asked if I wanted to play mini-basketball. That I’d definitely get good at it.”
“Ko-chan, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
“Haha…”
I understand how Otama-chan felt back then.
Otama-chan, who wanted to be with me, someone without talent.
Otama-chan, who tried to choose me even when told not to waste her talent.
—To think it took me nearly fifteen years to realize something so simple.
Feeling pathetic, tears welled up in my eyes.
“Have you realized it? Your foolishness.”
“No…”
And this guy in front of me is an idiot.
After all, his way of thinking is more immature than elementary schooler Otama-chan’s.
I looked straight at the man called Yagyu and declared.
“—You are wrong.”
“Ha…!?”
“Thinking you have talent, comparing yourself to others, looking down on others… Are you truly happy with that? Have you lived your whole life like that?”
“Nonsense. The ramblings of a loser. There’s a world known only to exceptional individuals. Don’t you want to dive into an unknown sea?”
“—My answer is set.”
I said, feeling that I could never understand this guy.
“More than results, I want to enjoy the journey with my precious friends. Even if it means taking a detour, I want to spend time with everyone. That’s my wish.”
“—How foolish.”
“Besides, our team is the strongest. We’ll go higher than you guys.”
While this was happening.
“Ah, Ko-chan! Who’s that? Someone from the Penguin-san Team?”
“T-Tama-chan. Not the Penguin-san Team, they’re from the First Penguins.”
My three childhood friends returned.
“Kehkeh, Ko-chin. I heard a bit. You’re gonna keep your promise this time, huh?”
“—Of course.”
Then, Yagyu-shi turned his back sharply.
“Hmph, in any case, your team ends today. 【Spatial Transfer】, I’ll use every means to crush you until you beg on your knees to let you join my team.”
He rejoined the other three, presumably his party members.
“—Oh my, it seems the preliminary skirmish had already begun.”
“And you are…?”
“Assistant Inaba…”
It was Shi-chan’s superior.
With a faint smile, the superior said.
“I’ll be explaining the exam shortly. No matter how strong the opposing A-Rank top party is, you guys are strong too, so you have a good chance. Good luck.”
His words sounded disingenuous.
“Oh, right, right. Today’s setup is also designed to serve as an integration test for existing A-Rank Parties, so Natsume, please keep that in mind.”
“I have no such aspirations…”
Then, Shi-chan stepped in front of me.
“Inaba, have you ever read the personnel regulations for Explorers?”
“Personnel regulations? Of course, but what about it?”
“Yes. According to the regulations, Explorers who belong to A-Rank or higher parties, or who hold command authority within a party, are certified as Senior Explorers—equivalent to section chief-level employees…”
“That’s right… What’s your point?”
“It’s simple.”
Shi-chan smiled sweetly.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be at the section chief level, and you’ll be at the assistant section chief level. I’ll be your superior, so from now on, when you do things like this, please get my seal of approval.”